bobby12 0 Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 I want to do a 3 day / 2 night hike in Kamikochi this weekend. We (my girlfriend and I) dont have any special kit like proper boots, ice stuff, crampons etc. We just wanna do a normal hike. We did Jonen dake last year and can handle that kind of tricky stuff, just nothing with snow. My question: Are there any routes we could do for three days in Kamikochi now that won't involve snow? Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 Yarigatake and Kita-Hodaka probably still have lots of snow, meaning you'd need crampons, ice ax, etc. I'm not 100% sure, but maybe Karasawa might be ok. *Here's a good overall resource: http://www.navel.co.jp/yamagoya/index.html *Snow as of 2004/05/07 http://www.navel.co.jp/yamagoya/frame/yokoo/tozandou/tozandoujyouhou.asp Best bet is call the yama-hut you're thinking of going to and asking directly. Here are some photos from our trips last year: http://www.omame.com/yama/kitaho/ http://www.omame.com/yama/kamikochi/ Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 Karasawa I am hoping will still have snow. It wouldn't be hard to hike up the slope to the hut in the col above the valley but it would involve snow. If you want to do any ridge walking it will most certainly involve crossing very very steep snow lines where if you slid if might get bad. Might have to wait till mid june for no snow. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted May 12, 2004 Author Share Posted May 12, 2004 Montoya, thanks your site is very helpful. You did the hike I want to do (to yarigatake). It looks like you went to Yarisawa and then as you ascended to Yarigatake it got too snowy. That was last June so I guess there will be even more snow right now. Basically I wont be able to do it then, or I'll just have to go to Yarisawa and then backtrack and go to Jonen or something. But Jonen may well still be snowy too... by the way, you should probably put the text on your website under the thumbnails rather than on the pages with the individual photos. makes it much easier to follow your journey. Link to post Share on other sites
slow 0 Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 Kamikochi is an amazing place. I didn't know such a beautiful place and clear river exists in Japan. When I was there, I saw a group of men in skirts and high-heeled sandals enjoyed beautiful scenery there. I couldn't believe my eyes! It was very funny that they didn't know what to wear in the mountain. Sorry for changing the subject... But! Actually they have to look feminine, so what should they wear in the mountain?? Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 Here is a good page I use all the time to check up on photos for the different yama-lodges: http://www.mcci.or.jp/www/yarigatake/ For example, looks like still lots of snow at Yarigatake: http://www.mcci.or.jp/www/yarigatake/live.htm Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted May 12, 2004 Author Share Posted May 12, 2004 If you look at the right side of that image, it looks like the trail has been cleared of snow. Is that where the trail is? Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 Quote: Originally posted by slow: Kamikochi is an amazing place. I didn't know such a beautiful place and clear river exists in Japan. Slow you need to get out of Tokyo more often Link to post Share on other sites
slow 0 Posted May 12, 2004 Share Posted May 12, 2004 I know... " title="" src="graemlins/cry.gif" /> Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 Quote: Originally posted by bobby12: If you look at the right side of that image, it looks like the trail has been cleared of snow. Is that where the trail is? If you're talking about this image http://www.mcci.or.jp/www/yarigatake/live.htm then, uh, no, the trail is still buried under snow. I think the area you're referring to is mostly loose small rocks under the peak, Hosaki, and not an area you want to be walking on anyway. The trail on the snow is marked by poles, for the most part. Usually we see crevices opening up in June near Omagari (the left-hand turn at the bottom), but since there seems to be less snowfall this year, I would expect to see that much earlier, like this month. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted May 13, 2004 Author Share Posted May 13, 2004 Ok Thanks for answering the Q. It looks like rain this weekend anyway so I'l probably wait for the last weekend of May of first weekend of June. Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 here are a few more web-cam links: http://www.shinshu-online.ne.jp/livecam/kamikochi/ http://shinshu-online.ne.jp/livecam/kamikochi Link to post Share on other sites
montoya 0 Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Kinda old thread, but we hiked up Yarigatake recently (May 24-5). Still lots of snow, so you definitely need ice-crampons, ice-ax, etc. Weather can change drastically in a few hours. If you wait till after the rainy season, most of the snow should be gone. Of course, that's also when it starts to get real crowded. Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted May 27, 2004 Share Posted May 27, 2004 Good to se there is still lots of snow. I am heading into tateyama area this weekend as long as the weather cooperates Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted May 27, 2004 Author Share Posted May 27, 2004 thanks for that, i'm thinking to do a long hike in two weekends time. Link to post Share on other sites
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